Day 4: The Ghan/Uluru/Darwin. Standley Chasm and Ormiston Gorge.

Look at the colours of the rocks up above Standley Gorge. This was my first hint that I might be going to see something special.

First off – crisis averted! My bus buddy is Eve, a lovely woman from Canberra. She’s had an interesting life, having done farming, truck driving (she can back up a semi!) and all sorts of other jobs. I’m so relieved I won’t be stuck 24/7 making awkward conversations with Jill.

Anyway, let’s get back to Standley Gorge. When I went on the camel ride, Isabella from Brazil came here to the chasm. It was in the afternoon, so maybe that was why she wasn’t all that thrilled with it when she came back. So I hopped off the bus this morning with LOW expectations.

(You know, sometimes that’s the best thing, isn’t it? You sometimes get an amazing surprise, which is what I received.)

I should have felt in my waters that it would be good because Standley Chasm is named for a teacher – Ida Standley (1869 – 1948).

She was the first teacher in Alice Springs, and she was ahead of her time in suggesting that maybe it would be good if the black and white kids all sat in the same classrooms at the same time, instead of white kids being taught in the morning and the Indigenous kids in the afternoon.

It didn’t happen, of course, the White Australia policy being what it was.

But she was greatly loved in the area and so this place was named in her honour.

The rocks look like the bark of the trees. This was down by the path in the shade.

The cliffs on the right side of the path were a pale apricot colour like this. Absolutely beautiful, but the light wasn’t right to capture how they looked. The left side of the path was catching the morning sun.

Like this. Isn’t it incredible?

It was so quiet. I could hear a bird chirping and eventually I found it. It was some sort of honey eater. I stood for a while and watched it fly from blossom to blossom.

I haven’t used any colour enhancements. The rocks are exactly like this when the sun hits them. It’s just amazing. The oranges and yellows are intense.

The Chasm itself has a flat, easy track which winds its way along a creek until the end. Unlike most of the rivers we’ve seen here, which are upside down, this one actually has water in some places that you can see.

The group spead out along the walk, so no one was in anyone else’s face. It was quiet and calm, which made it easy to stroll along and soak in the beauty.

Here’s the entrance to the Chasm itself.

I was halfway in, looking back the way I’d come.

Here’s the end. The water in this pool is very cold, as no sunlight touches it. Merrilyn put her hand in it, then a few minutes later put her fingers against my cheek. They were still icy cold.

Turning back towards the path back to the bus, where morning tea awaited us.

I absolutely loved this place.

On the way to Ormiston Gorge, some of us were lucky enough to see a small flock of budgerigars keeping pace beside the bus for a few moments before they swooped away. They were iridescent green and it was so exciting. My brother used to breed them in a large aviary in the backyard when we were kids and now I’ve seen them in the wild.

I have Eve to thank for pointing out the windw for me to see them. I was looking in the wrong direction.

I also have Eve to thank for giving me a lot of very practical advice about my trip wending my way down to the Snowy Mountains after I drop the Ligas off in November. As I mentioned, at one stage Eve was a truckie and she drove along these roads up in the Top End.

She seems to have no doubt that I can do this – which gives me a lot of confidence – and she knows where I should stay and how I can make the car and me safer as we’re travelling. We had a really interesting conversation as the bus drove along.

We also saw BRUMBIES! Ever snce I read ‘The Silver Brumby’ and the rest of the series as a child, I wanted to see one. Today was certainly the day for catching up with childhood things.

Ormiston Gorge was ok, but it was the walk up the cliffs that was the most important part.

“If you’re considering doing the Rim Walk at King’s Canyon tomorrow, then this walk will be a good test to see if you can make it,” said Colin.

Hmmm… I was thinking about tackling this, but because I’m fat and unfit, I wasn’t sure if I could make it. I decided to give Ormiston Gorge a crack.

As you can see, I made it. I found that if I stopped when I started to get out of breath and let my heart rate and breathing calm down, then I was good to go. The first little bit of the walk was steep, but in what seemed like no time, I was up on the lookout with the rest of the group.

I’d brought a towel and my bathers, but I decided not to go swimming. The water was cold and only the Tasmanians said that it was ok. I climbed a mountain today. Let that be enough!

We stayed up there for a fair while. Tracey, the bus driver, climbed up to join us, while Colin was back at the bus putting together lunch.

I spotted the first fly net of the trip! You can either wear them over or under your hat. I’ve noticed that tourists from other countries are wearing them most. Honestly, for Aussies, the flies so far have been pretty good. You have to do the occasional ‘Aussie Salute’ but so far, I’ve been happy to keep my Ghan fly net in reserve.

After lunch Eve, Janet and I walked down to the waterhole to take a closer look. Janet is the other solo traveller and she’d great value. Very positive and upbeat all the time. The three of us climbed down the hill together before lunch and although she has a dicky knee, she worked around it and kept up the pace while carrying on a lively conversation.

The wattles are starting to bloom. We used to have one in our back yard when we were kids and when they bloom, you know that spring is here.

Here’s what we found. It actually has a sandy beach, though the water looked a bit murky, to be honest.

Here’s Eve, communing with nature. It is a very beautiful spot. I can imagine that when the weather gets very intense, this would be a fabulous place to spend the day and cool off.

On the way back to the bus, I heard a ‘peep peep’ sound. I instantly knew what it was. There were wild Zebra Finches hanging around near a tap, taking a drink. Along with the budgies, my brother also had Zebra Finches. They make a sound that is unforgettable.

Not-so-fun fact: You can’t keep Budgies and Zebra Finches in the same aviary. The Budgies don’t like them and they bite their legs off. We didn’t experience this back in the day. Simon was told that when he wanted to get the finches, so Dad built a new aviary for them. Thank god we avoided that trauma!

On our journey to the King’s Canyon resort, we passed by Gosses Bluff. This is the remnants of a meteor impact, which took place millions of years ago, “on Wednesday afternoon at 4 o’clock,” said Tracey.

The interesting thing about this is that the scientific and indiginous explanations are very similar.

Scientifically, a meteor composed of ice and gas crashed into the Earth, raising up this huge crater from the ground with the impact. The meteor was absorbed by the earth that it hit.

The Indiginous story is that the North and South stars had a baby, and it fell from the sky into a huge cradle. The baby disppeared under the earth an when we see the North and South stars, they’re looking for their baby.

Pictured from above, it looks very much like a cradle, doesn’t it?

Before we got here, Tracey gave a talk painting the King’s Canyon Rim Walk as being extremely challenging. Lots of scrambling around on hands and knees to get over cliff faces etc. I began to feel that maybe I was ging to attempt something that was too hard for me, especially when I heard that ‘Heart Attack Hill’ right at the start isn’t 300 steps as I thought … it’s 500. Yikes.

I had a quiet chart with Colin at Gosses Bluff and he asked if I had any knee or hip problems.

“No,” I said. “I’m just fat and unfit.”

We decided that I should give it a go. They take people up the first 200 steps and if they realise that it’s too much for them, they go down and join the rest of the group for an easy creek walk a couple of days later. That seemed fair and reasonable to me.

Though once I start something, I like to finish it…

When we arrived at the resort, we checked in. My room has two queen beds, so I have OPTIONS. (Or as James from Ireland would probably say… “Notions.”)

We had a great night. There are enough lovely people here to dilute the one who irritates me, so I’ll just do the dance of avoidance.

Tomorrow is the Rim Walk. We have to ge up before the crack of dawn to get there in time to get most of it done before the sun gets too hot.

Wish me luck!

Dad joke of the Day: